changing trees
by KeyLimePie14
Summary: "...shimmer like you do to me, we laugh at all those changing trees, autumn is fallin' down again…out of this blue Sunday dream." SamxFreddie.
**This isn't a mirage. I am actually back. Yeah, pretty shitty of me after YEARS away, right? Well… here's what I believe to be a prequel to a story. This was totally inspired by Gregory Alan Isakov, because he's just amazing and his album "That Sea, The Gambler" has been my playlist for a while… so here's the result of me letting the bunnies run away with me. The title comes from a song on the album called "All There Is…". And honestly, listening to the song might give you a glimpse into what I'm thinking for the rest of the story, but that's all speculation at this point. As for everything else I've written and unfinished, I won't make any promises. But hey, enjoy this little ditty and lemme know what ya'll think in a comment down below.**

 **Oh yeah, and there are a few lines of graphic-ish text. You've been warned.**

"changing trees"

"Hi," an uncharacteristically soft voice came from the direction of his window.

He sat up in bed, blinking to remove the blurriness of sleep from his eyes. He squinted at the form of the girl standing in the light of the moon, her curls reflecting in it. He knew immediately who the intruder was, and that she wasn't really an intruder at all.

"Hey, baby," his eyebrows knitted together in confusion. It was late and they had school tomorrow.

"Hi, Fredlumps. I... Never mind. I think I should go."

Despite having been a couple for seven months, she still insisted on calling him names. He knew it just made her comfortable in uncomfortable situations. It no longer offended him, but he instead found it endearing.

As she turned and began crawling back through the window from which she came, he flung the covers back and ran to her, grabbing her by the arm. "No, stay."

The firmness of his voice and the warmth from his touch made a shiver run down her spine. Of course it wasn't the only time she'd crashed his night, but never had it been so... Serious. She always opted to make sure her lips were sealed to his immediately upon her arrival.

"Hey," she eyed him warily, pulling her arm from his grasp, "I really gotta go. See you tomorrow." She bit the inside of her lip as she proceeded to begin her exit through the window once more.

"Sam..." He pulled her swiftly into his arms and threaded his fingers protectively through her hair, "Just sleep with me. That's all." He knew she was nervous about something, he could feel it in the way she held her body stiffly against his.

She swallowed thickly, relaxing into his embrace slightly as she did so.

Without a word, they found themselves tangled up together, the softness of Freddie's sheets enveloping her bare legs. Sam hadn't even realized until that moment how stupid it was of her to wear shorts to Freddie's. It was just the beginning of April, after all.

Feeling her shiver against him slightly, Freddie pulled her closer, wrapping his arms around her small frame, planting a kiss on the top of her curls.  
"Gonna talk to me?" He asked quietly, as he always tried to do when he felt her walls were collapsing around her. Sam Puckett in a vulnerable state was anything if not rare. Half of him always imagined her shutting down completely even at his words, while the other half knew that what she really wanted was to say yes.

"Freddie..." The use of his proper name made the corners of his mouth turn down slightly. Her answer was going to be no.

"It's okay," he found himself saying, pressing his lips against her hair over and over again. He was just worried, that's all. She'd been sneaking into his room an awful lot lately, mostly coaxing him into making out with her, but sometimes it ended up like this - him wanting to talk and her... On her own planet, locked up inside of herself. It was frustrating and completely expected, all at once.

So the two laid in silence for a while, Freddie's fingers drawing shapes lightly over her spine, making it hard for Sam not to shiver from a completely different feeling than cold. The tension in the room grew, as Sam could practically hear Freddie's worry screaming at her. It was becoming too much.  
Sam leaned up and kissed his neck softly, moving so that she was lying on top of him, her lips growing fiercer in their attachment to his pulse point, sucking lightly and leaving moist kisses behind his ear.

The sensations caught him off guard as his eyes lidded closed and he reveled in the feeling of her soft lips against his skin and the coolness of the air against the ghosts of her kisses.

She moved over his Adam's apple, making her way down, down kissing the base of his throat. Anything, anywhere for her lips to go that meant the silence was stifled by moist suction noises from her kisses. As long as that pressure in her chest went away, she'd do whatever it took.

Freddie allowed her full reign, his hand snaking its way beneath her thin t-shirt where he laid his palm flat against the small of her back. The feeling of his touch sent waves through Sam. The feeling of his somehow delicate yet completely _manly_ hand resting against her back created a desire within her. She wanted more of his touch, more of his skin against hers, meshing against him in the darkness of his room.

"Mm... Shirt," she commanded, her fingers playing at the hem of his shirt, tugging ever so slightly upward in an attempt to convey what she wanted where her words failed.

Her words always seemed to fail her.

He sat up slightly, removing his hand from her back as he pulled the shirt over his head, creating more skin to skin contact between them. Sam sighed softly as she began her kissing assault further down his body, pausing to suck at the crook of his neck for a moment before kissing down his bare chest to his belly button.

"Sam," Freddie whispered, knowing exactly where she was headed, "We should really get some sleep." He said the words but every fiber of his being screamed out against him, wanting more of her.

Sam shook her head, hooking her thumbs under his boxer shorts, as she began to tug them down fiercely.

"Sam. Sam," Freddie said more forcefully now, as he grabbed her forearms and pulled her away from her current mission to get him naked. "Cmon... Sleep. We can fool around later, okay? I have a Chem test..." He trailed off, seeing her dirty look as she looked up at him through her long lashes.

She sat up, crossing her arms over her chest, "So you don't want me to suck your dick because you have a Chem test." The tone of her voice almost made Freddie cringe but at this point he knew he had to stand firm or he was going to completely give into her.

"Tomorrow. I promise," He tugged on her arm slightly, trying to coax her into lying back down.

She pulled against him, her wet and slightly swollen lips glistening in their pout against the moonlight that shone through his window. "You seriously just told your girlfriend no to sex because you care more about a stupid test," She glanced away and sucked her bottom lip between her teeth forcefully as she muttered, "Figures." She sat up on her knees and began to crawl off the bed.

"Hey, where are you going?" He sat up, trying to tug his boxers back up as he reached out to grab her, harder this time.

"Home," she replied deadpan. "Let me go, Freddie."

"You aren't going anywhere. It's late, Sam. Cmon." He really wished he knew what was going on with her lately. She was always trying to pick a fight, more so than her own usual Sam self, and he was really worried about her. He paused, considering his words carefully before speaking, "What do you mean "it figures"? You know that I have to do well on this test, Sam. It's our last semester of high school."

She shook out of his grasp, standing up, "You don't need to remind me," again with the lip between her teeth, "I'm going home. Don't gotta worry about me fucking up your chances."

He furrowed his eyebrows, frowning as he eyed the girl in front of him. It seemed she'd been torn between forcing herself on him lately (which, really, didn't take much usually) and avoiding him completely. She'd been picking more fights, stupid fights even for them. She'd been ditching school, going God knows where and only responding to half of Freddie's attempts to contact her. Something was up, but despite Freddie's intelligence, he never could quite figure out his own girlfriend.

His girlfriend who was now trying to exit through the window wearing nothing but a pair of shorts and a flimsy t-shirt, her hair wilder than it was when she first showed up and her lips looking like she'd definitely been fooling around. "Hey!" He got up and grabbed her arm, jerking her back inside, "You are not going anywhere, Sam." He pushed her down onto the bed and stood between her legs, leaning into her and grabbing her upper arms in the process.  
"Let go of me," she clenched her teeth, "I'll scream."

"Go right ahead," he used one hand to pin both of her wrists together as he shoved her arms above her head and covered her mouth with his other hand, "But you aren't going anywhere. It's late." His eyes softened and he leaned down to kiss her forehead, "Bad things can happen to you out there and I'm not gonna let it."

She squirmed beneath him, refusing to give in as she tried to free her arms from his uncomfortable grasp. "Lemme go," she mumbled through his hand, trying to get her legs involved too as she attempted to kick his back.

Freddie shook his head and crawled on top of her, sitting gently on her hips, effectively pinning her beneath him. "No screaming," he slowly pulled his hand away from her mouth and leaned down, stopping to hover his lips over hers as he eyed her face, "Can I let you go without you trying to run?"

Sam frowned and didn't answer, her eyes looking anywhere but him. She paused a moment and then arched herself into him, craning her neck to kiss him hard, tugging on his bottom lip with her teeth.

Freddie inhaled sharply, caught off guard by her breasts suddenly pressing into him and her lips crashing into his, "Fine, Sam. You don't wanna talk to me? We don't have to talk."

With these words he pushed her shirt up with his free hand, grabbing a handful of her chest, rubbing at it gently. His eyes never left her face as he continued his ministrations and he leaned down so there was merely a centimeter between their lips as he whispered, "If you won't talk to me, and you insist on being stubborn, I'm gonna make you squirm a little."

Sam whimpered, reaching up to make contact with his lips.

He pulled away, his hand leaving her chest as he pressed her into the mattress, making it impossible for her to kiss him or even move unless he allowed it.

"You're being an asshole," she muttered, finally looking up at his face, her eyes dark.

"You're being unreasonable," he fought back, kissing her hard, making their teeth clank together as he shoved her mouth open and forced his tongue inside.  
She moaned into him, squirming under his grip again.

Freddie pulled away, peppering her neck with kisses, "You gonna stay?"

Sam whimpered, "No."

Freddie frowned and sucked hard at her collarbone, making her gasp.

"Freddie!"

"What, Sammy?" He played innocent, pushing her shirt up with his free hand, letting go of her wrists temporarily to pull it over her head, leaving both of their upper bodies bare in the dark.

"Lemme go!" She grabbed a fistful of his hair, yanking his head down and causing him to cry out. "I mean it. I'll scream."

Freddie sighed and let her go, pushing her away from him as he stood up and backed away from her, "You wanna go? Just go. You aren't gonna talk to me and you won't lay down with me so go. I don't even know why you came."

Sam's eyes saddened and she swallowed hard, grabbing her shirt and pulling it on, hanging her head so her curls covered her face. She stood up, straightened her clothes and crossed her arms defensively over her chest. "See ya," she said softly, heading toward the window. The feeling in the room changed in an instant and Freddie immediately regretted his actions.

He reached out to touch her arm softly, stepping toward her in the process, "Sammy... Cmon. I didn't mean it. I'm sorry."

"No," she shrugged, not picking her head up to look at him, "It's okay. I gotta go sometime anyway."

"...what does that mean?" Freddie dropped his hand from her arm and eyed her warily.

"Means this," she motioned between them, "is nice and all but... Can't last forever."

He was more confused than ever, "Are you breaking up with me?" How had things escalated so quickly? He shouldn't have been so rough with her. He mentally locked himself for his actions and watched the blonde girl in front of him shrug as nonchalantly as she could but failing because it was still obvious that she cared.

"Gotta happen sooner or later."

"Hey. Sam," He stepped toward her, embracing her in a hug, resting his chin on her head, "No, no way am I gonna let you do this."

She pushed at his chest weakly, "Why not? We all know that you're leaving in a few months. We can't last forever, Freddie. It was nice..."

Realization dawned on Freddie and he could feel his face paling as he held her, her words sinking in. She thought he was going to leave her when it came time for college. Didn't she know he could never leave her behind, no matter where he went?

"I haven't accepted any offers yet, baby, you know that."

She sighed, wanting to fight the urge to bury her face in his chest, "You will. And when you do, it will be goodbye because you and I both know I'm not going to college. I can't afford it and my grades suck. You'll go off to some big school and do great things because you're Freddie Benson. You'll meet a pretty girl and fall in love and get married while I'm stuck here, working some shitty job and turning out like my mother." Sam swallowed a sob, refusing to look anywhere but the chain he wore around his neck.

"You're wrong."

"About what?" Sam's eyes glistened and she squeezed them shut, refusing to allow him to see her vulnerability.

"Most of it. I already met my pretty girl and fell in love. She's nothing like her mother and she's absolutely brilliant. She's gonna go just as far in life if she would just believe in herself."

"Freddie..." Sam protested weakly, her cheeks flushing a deep shade of red at his words.

"I love you. I'm not going to leave you because I love you. I want to be with you. You can't push me away, Sam."

Sam sighed, leaning into his fingers drawing shapes on her spine, "But I still can't follow you wherever you go."

"Why not? We will find a school you can go to if that's what you want. We will find you a job if you don't want to go to school. As long as we're together..."  
"Stop being cheesy, nub," Sam smiled, hitting his arm playfully.

"I mean it. You're not getting away from me that easily."

"I want to believe you."

"Well, we can work on it, okay?" He stroked her hair and kissed her softly, sucking on her bottom lip ever so slightly, "Cmon. Come lay down with me. Let me hold my girl."

Sam rolled her eyes at his words but followed him to his bed, sinking into the mattress and pressing herself against his side.

Freddie wrapped his arms around her, "I'm sorry about earlier. I was too rough."

Sam giggled, hiding her face in his shoulder, "I liked it," came her muffled response, to which Freddie's eyebrow arched.

"You liked it?"

"Yeah," another nervous giggle.

"Well in that case..." Freddie rolled on top of her and began tickling her mercilessly.

Sam laughed, kicking her feet as she tried to catch her breath from his assault, "Stop!"

"No way," Freddie laughed, stopping to lean down and catch her lips, "My girl is kinky."

"You're just now figuring that out?" Sam deadpanned, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"No, I just like being reminded," Freddie smirked.

"Perv," Sam laughed into his shoulder, nuzzling him softly. She could feel herself relaxing with him for the first time in weeks and she realized how much she had missed it. She played with the hair at the nape of his neck, twirling her finger around the lone curl that formed from his lack of a haircut.

"You were really gonna suck my dick earlier?"

Sam rolled her eyes, flicking him in the head, "Way to ruin a moment, dork."

"Hey!" He protested, "I didn't deserve that."

Sam just rolled her eyes and laughed as she pulled him down by the neck and kissed him hard knowing that maybe, after all, they might actually have a chance in hell of making it. She would take her chances anyway, no matter what they were, simply because they included him and that was enough.


End file.
